Enhancements to serving a user equipment in a visited country in a mobile communication system

ABSTRACT

An embodiment of the invention is a User Equipment UE, configured to:
         get ePDG selection information configured by the UE&#39;s HPLMN, said ePDG selection information including a list of PLMNs with an indication of whether the selection of an ePDG in a PLMN is preferred or mandatory or non-preferred,   perform selection of an ePDG operated by a PLMN of a country the UE is located in, referred to as local PLMN, which has roaming agreement with the UE&#39;s HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access to EPC, based on said list of PLMNs configured in said ePDG selection information, and on a list of MCCs of said country and/or a list of local PLMNs.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/069,746, filed Jul. 12, 2018 and titled “Enhancements to Serving a User Equipment in a Visited Country in a Mobile Communication System,” which is a National Stage Entry of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2017/050587, filed Jan. 12, 2017 and titled “Enhancements to Serving a User Equipment in a Visited Country in a Mobile Communication System,” which claims priority to and the benefit of European Patent Application No. 16305032.1, filed Jan. 14, 2016 and titled “Enhancements to Serving a User Equipment in a Visited Country in a Mobile Communication System,” the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Descriptions of mobile networks and systems can be found in the literature, such as in particular in Technical Specifications published by standardization bodies such as for example 3GPP (3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project).

An example of 3GPP mobile system is EPS (Evolved Packet System). In a system such as EPS, a User Equipment UE has access to a an EPS network providing communication services (including providing IP connectivity). The EPS network comprises a Core Network called EPC (Evolved Packet Core) that can be accessed not only by 3GPP access, but also by non-3GPP access. A typical example of non-3GPP access, which will be considered more particularly in the following, is WLAN access.

WLAN access to EPC is specified in particular in 3GPP TS 23.402 and 3GPP TS 24.302. In the case of untrusted WLAN access, an IPsec tunnel is established between the UE and an evolved Packet Data Gateway ePDG, to ensure that the UE and the network can communicate in a secure way. The procedure for selection of an ePDG by the UE is specified in particular in 3GPP TS 23.402 and 3GPP TS 24.302.

It is important that an appropriate ePDG is selected for untrusted WLAN access to EPC. As recognized by the inventors and as will be explained with more detail later, the procedure for selection of an ePDG by the UE, as currently specified, needs to be improved.

In particular, there is a need to improve the selection of a ePDG in a country a User Equipment UE is located.

There is also a need to improve the determination of the local emergency numbers in a country a User Equipment UE is located.

More generally, there is a need for enhancements to serving a User Equipment UE in a visited country in a mobile communication system.

Embodiments of the present invention in particular address such needs.

The present invention generally relates to mobile communication networks and systems.

-   -   These and other objects are achieved, in one aspect, in some         embodiments, by a User Equipment UE, configured to:         -   get ePDG selection information configured by the UE's HPLMN,             said ePDG selection information including a list of PLMNs             with an indication of whether the selection of an ePDG in a             PLMN is preferred or mandatory or non-preferred,         -   perform selection of an ePDG operated by a PLMN of a country             the UE is located in, referred to as local PLMN, which has             roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN             access to EPC, based on said list of PLMNs configured in             said ePDG selection information, and on a list of MCCs of             said country and/or a list of local PLMNs.     -   These and other objects are achieved, in another aspect, in some         embodiments, by a User Equipment UE, configured to:         -   get a list of PLMNs, referred to as local PLMNs, of a             country the UE is located in,         -   perform selection of an ePDG operated by a local PLMN having             roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN             access to EPC, based on said list of local PLMNs, and on             information, referred to as local PLMN roaming agreement             information, indicating if a local PLMN has roaming             agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access to             EPC.     -   These and other objects are achieved, in another aspect, in some         embodiments, by a User Equipment UE, configured to:         -   get a list of PLMNs, referred to as local PLMNs, of a             country the UE is located in, which have roaming agreement             with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access to EPC,         -   perform selection of a ePDG operated by a local PLMN having             roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN             access to EPC, based on said list.     -   These and other objects are achieved, in another aspect, in some         embodiments, by a DNS Server, configured to:         -   receive a DNS query targeting a FQDN including a MCC of a             country,         -   provide in response a list of identities, MCC and MNC, of             PLMNs of said country.     -   These and other objects are achieved, in another aspect, in some         embodiments, by a DNS Server, configured to:         -   receive a DNS query targeting a FQDN including:             -   the MCC and MNC of a local PLMN in a UE's visited                 country, and             -   the MCC and MNC of the UE's HPLMN,         -   provide in response a failure indication if said local PLMN             has no roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted             WLAN access to EPC.     -   These and other objects are achieved, in another aspect, in some         embodiments, by a DNS Server, configured to:         -   receive a DNS query targeting a FQDN including:             -   the MCC and MNC of a UE's HPLMN, and             -   a MCC of a country the UE is located in,         -   provide in response a list of identities, MCC and MNC, of             the PLMNs of said country, which have roaming agreement with             the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access to EPC.

These and other objects are achieved, in another aspect, in some embodiments, by a method for selection of an evolved packet data gateway in a country a User Equipment UE is located, comprising at least one step performed by at least one of a thus configured UE or DNS server.

-   These and other objects are achieved, in another aspect, in some     embodiments, by a DNS Server, configured to:     -   receive a DNS query targeting a FQDN including a MCC of a         country,     -   provide in response a list of emergency numbers of said country.     -   These and other objects are achieved, in another aspect, in some         embodiments, by a P-CSCF, configured to:         -   retrieve from a DNS server, based on the MCC of the VPLMN             serving an UE, the list of emergency numbers defined in the             country corresponding to that MCC

These and other objects are achieved, in another aspect, in some embodiments, by a method for the determination of the local emergency numbers in a country a User Equipment UE is located, comprising at least one step performed by at least one of a thus configured P-CSCF or DNS server.

Some embodiments of apparatus and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present invention are now described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is intended to illustrate, in a simplified way, an example of information used for ePDG selection according to first embodiments of the invention,

FIG. 2 is intended to illustrate, in a simplified way, an example of information used for ePDG selection according to second embodiments of the invention,

FIG. 3 is intended to illustrate, in a simplified way, an example of information used for ePDG selection according to third embodiments of the invention.

ABBREVIATIONS

DNS Domain Name System

EPC Evolved Packet Core

ePDG Evolved Packet Data Gateway

EPS Evolved Packet System

FQDN Fully Qualified Domain Name

HPLMN Home PLMN

IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem

MCC Mobile Country Code

MNC Mobile Network Code

P-CSCF Proxy Call Session Control Function

PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

UE User Equipment

VPLMN Visited PLMN

WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS ASPECTS AND/OR EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

When a WLAN capable UE is attached via 3GPP access to a 3GPP RPLMN (HPLMN or VPLMN), it is specified according to TS 23.402 clause 4.5.4 (see version v13.4.0) that the UE selects an ePDG in that RPLMN or in its HPLMN.

When the UE is not attached via 3GPP access to a 3GPP PLMN, it is specified that the UE shall select an ePDG in the country it is located in by constructing a corresponding Operator Identifier FQDN (with MCC and MNC as specified in TS 23.003). But a condition is that the selected PLMN shall be in the “ePDG selection information” (see 4.5.4.4 bullet 2)a)), which does not include all the PLMNs that have roaming agreements for untrusted WLAN with the UE's HPLMN but only the mandatory and preferred PLMNs (i.e. the local PLMNs for which the HPLMN has decided it is mandatory or preferred that the UE selects an ePDG in that PLMN). That “ePDG selection information” has been previously provided to the UE by its HPLMN.

For Lawful Interception, local country regulation authorities may mandate that a UE in the country must select an ePDG in that country. In that case the algorithm to select an ePDG must remain independent from information from other countries. This includes not relying on the “ePDG selection information” because this information is provided by the HPLMN (and may contradict the requirement to select an ePDG in the visited country).

Another use case when the UE must select an ePDG in the same country it is located in is for emergency calls via WiFi when the UE is not attached to any 3GPP PLMN.

In some embodiments:

The UE is assumed to be able to determine the country it is located in. The idea is to enable a WLAN capable UE to get via new additional information in the ePDG selection information and/or via one or more DNS queries, a list of “local” PLMN's (i.e. PLMN's that are in the country the UE is located in) which have roaming agreements for untrusted WLAN access with the UE's HPLMN i.e. that own one or more ePDGs that can authenticate and authorize UE(s) from the HPLMN of the UE.

The DNS servers are public (accessible from anywhere on the Internet).

With the knowledge of local PLMN's having roaming agreements for untrusted WLAN access with the UE's HPLMN, the UE can attempt to establish an IPSec tunnel per TS 24.302 subclause 7.2.2 to an ePDG that is operated by one of these PLMN's.

Three alternatives, referred to as Alternative 1, Alternative 2, Alternative 3, may be distinguished.

Embodiments and/or aspects of the invention related to these different alternatives may be described in the following way.

Alternative 1

One alternative is to extend the attributes of each PLMN in the ePDG selection info “mandatory, preferred” with “not preferred”. This allows knowing which PLMNs have roaming agreements with the UE's HPLMN.

-   In this alternative, either the UE already knows the list of MCCs of     the country it is located in, or it needs to query a public DNS to     get the full list of PLMNs (MCC and MNC) of the country. The     corresponding DNS records are managed by a central administration     -   The input is a FQDN which includes the MCC (or one of the MCCs)         of the country the UE is located in. The output is the list of         the identities of the PLMN's of the country (MCC and MNC). The         Resource Record is a NAPTR record.

Then the UE attempts to establish an IPSec tunnel per TS 24.302 subclause 7 to an ePDG that is operated by any PLMN in the above list only if the PLMN is configured in the ePDG selection Info.

This alternative implies dependence from the HPLMN because ePDG Selection Info is provided by the HPLMN, but it avoids a subsequent DNS query as in alternative 2. If—due to misconfiguration—a PLMN is not provided by the HPLMN in the ePDG selection info, the UE will just not attempt to select ePDG in that PLMN, but it does not harm because the UE will not attempt to select an ePDG in its HPLMN.

Alternative 2

Similar to alternative 1 but the ePDG selection info is not enhanced with “not preferred”. In this case, the UE does not know all the roaming agreements since the ePDG selection info does not contain the “non-preferred PLMNs”.

The UE first queries a public DNS to get the list of local PLMNs (MCC and MNC) of the country exactly as in alternative 1 but even if it knows all the MCCs of the country.

There is a need for a second set of (DNS) queries to keep only the list of local PLMN's that have roaming agreements for untrusted WLAN access with the UE's HPLMN (so as to prune out the local PLMN that haven't such agreement within the list of PLMN retrieved by the first query of alternative 1).

This second set of queries corresponds to DNS queries targetting a FQDN which includes:

-   -   The MCC and the MNC of a local PLMN in the visited country;     -   The MCC and the MNC of the UE's HPLMN.

The output of the each DNS query on each local PLMN is

-   -   A failure if the local PLMN has no roaming agreements for         untrusted WLAN access with the UE's HPLMN;     -   an FQDN (that may depend on the UE's HPLMN) that allows to         further obtain a list of ePDGs of the local PLMN that can serve         users of the HPLMN . This avoids the VPLMN having to configure         the list of ePDG IP addresses for each of the HPLMN it has         roaming agreement with.

Alternative 3

Another alternative is for the UE to directly query a DNS that returns the list of PLMNs which have a roaming agreement for untrusted WLAN with the UE's HPLMN.

The input of the DNS is a FQDN which includes:

-   -   The MCC and the MNC of the UE's HPLMN;     -   The MCC (or one of the MCCs) of the country the UE is located in         (it is assumed that the UE can know the country it is located         in).

The output of the DNS is a list of the identities (MCC and MNC) of the PLMNs of the country that have roaming agreements for untrusted WLAN access with the UE's HPLMN. That list can be ordered.

This feature is e.g. to be used

-   -   when the UE has received instructions that in the local country         where it is currently camping it shall only use ePDG that are         local in the country (allowing thus Lawful Interception in the         local country)

or for emergency calls via WLAN.

Embodiments and/or aspects of the invention related to these different alternatives may further be described in the following way.

When a WLAN capable UE can determine the country it is located in and either the UE is attempting to make an emergency call via WiFi or the UE has received instructions that in the country where it is currently camping it shall only use ePDG that are located in the country, and if the UE is not attached via 3GPP access to a 3GPP PLMN (or if the UE has failed to be served by an ePDG of the RPLMN that serves it over 3GPP access), the UE selects an ePDG in a PLMN in this country as follows:

As a First Alternative:

-   -   1) As a first aspect of the invention, in some embodiments, this         alternative assumes that the attribute of each PLMN in the ePDG         selection info specified in TS 23.402 (§ 4.5.4.3) “mandatory”,         “preferred” is enhanced with the value “not preferred”. A “not         preferred” PLMN configured in the ePDG selection information is         a PLMN for which the selection of an ePDG in the VPLMN is         allowed (if the UE is required to select a local ePDG) but for         which the selection of an ePDG in the HPLMN is preferred (if the         UE is not required to select a local ePDG).     -   2) The UE detects the country it is located in and determines         one of the MCCs of the country (a country may have several MCCs         https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_country_code);     -   3) As a second aspect of the invention, in some embodiments, the         UE optionally (e.g. if it does not know the list of MCCs of the         country) tries to get a list of local PLMN's (i.e. a list of         PLMNs in the country the UE is located in) by performing a DNS         query on an input FQDN containing “mcc<MCC>” to a public NAPTR         DNS server that returns a list of FQDN that each contains a         “mnc<MNC>.mcc<MCC>” of a local PLMN; The domain of the input         FQDN does not correspond to an individual operator as the         corresponding DNS record is likely not to be managed by an         individual operator (could be managed by GSMA)     -   4) The UE attempts to establish an IPSec tunnel per TS 24.302         subclause 7 to an ePDG that is operated by any PLMN in the above         list only if the local PLMN is configured in the ePDG selection         Info (since ePDG roaming is “guaranteed” with the PLMN's in ePDG         selection info);

3GPP TS 23.003 provides an informative annex D “Applicability and use of the “.3gppnetwork.org” domain name” that can be used to construct a FQDN. A rule of this annex is that a DNS managed by an operator identified by mnc<MNC>.mcc<MCC> can be reached by an UE by using a FQDN with the form “<service_id>.mnc<MNC>.mcc<MCC>.pub.3gppnetwork.org”. Hence, a public DNS that is not managed by a specific operator should use another form.

As an example for that alternative, the input FQDN to be used for the DNS query would have the form “mcc<MCC>.local-plmn.pub.3gppnetwork.org”, the public DNS server returning a list of “mnc<MNC>.mcc<MCC>.local-plmn.pub.3gppnetwork.org” output FQDNs.

Note that in case multiple MCC values may correspond to the local country, the MCC value in an output FQDN could have a different value than the MCC value in the input FQDN.

An example of information used for ePDG selection by a UE, in embodiments related to the first alternative, is illustrated in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, such information includes ePDG selection information enhanced with non-preferred PLMNs, and may (as illustrated with dotted lines) include a list of local PLMNs, obtained e.g. by DNS query to a public DNS server.

As a Second Alternative,

-   -   1) This alternative assumes that the attributes of each PLMN in         the ePDG selection info “mandatory, preferred” are as specified         in TS 23.402;     -   2) Same as step 2) in alternative 1;     -   3) Same as step 3) in alternative 1 in order to determine a list         of local PLMN;     -   4) The UE attempts to establish an IPSec tunnel per TS 24.302         subclause 7. to an ePDG that is operated by any PLMN in the         above list if the PLMN is configured in the ePDG selection Info         (since ePDG roaming is “guaranteed” with the PLMN's in ePDG         selection info);     -   5) If there is no PLMN in the list returned by the DNS server         that is also indicated in the ePDG selection info, or if the UE         did not succeed in establishing an IPsec tunnel to an ePDG in         step 4, the UE tries to get a list of local ePDG's having a         roaming agreement with its HPLMN:         -   a. The UE removes the local PLMN(s) that it has tried to             contact at step 3;         -   b. For each of the remaining local PLMN(s), the UE performs             a DNS query to the local PLMN NAPTR DNS server with an FQDN             including the UE's HPLMN (hmnc<MNC>.hmcc<MCC>) and the local             PLMN ID (mnc<MNC>.mcc<MCC>). Since the DNS is managed by the             operator, the FQDN would have a format like             “epdg.hmnc<MNC>.hmcc<MCC>.mnc<MNC>.mcc<MCC>.pub.3gppnetwor             k.org”. The DNS server returns a substitute FQDN e.g. in a             “s” NAPTR record if there is a roaming agreement with the             HPLMN, and a rejection otherwise. If the UE “resolver” gets             a substitute FQDN from the DNS server, it issues a second             DNS request (e.g. SRV type) with the substitute FQDN. The             output is a list of IP addresses or a SRV record for ePDG             depending on whether the substitute FQDN is associated with             an “a” or “s” record.             -   Step b allows avoiding costly failed IPSec establishment                 attempts from the UE where the UE tries to contact an                 ePDG of a local PLMN which has no roaming agreement for                 untrusted WLAN with the UE's HPLMN                 (IKE-SA-INIT+Authentication signaling, generally up to                 the 3GPP AAA proxy which sum up to 6 useless messages).     -   6) The UE attempts to establish an IPSec tunnel per TS 24.302         subclause 7 to an ePDG that is operated by one of these PLMN's.

An example of information used for ePDG selection by a UE, in embodiments related to the second alternative, is illustrated in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, such information includes a list of local PLMNs obtained e.g. by DNS query to a public DNS server, and information noted local PLMN roaming agreement information (indicating if a local PLMN has roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access to EPC) obtained e.g. by DNS query to a local PLMN DNS server.

-   As a third alternative, the UE selects an ePDG in a PLMN in the     country it is located in as follows:     -   1) The UE detects the country it is located in and determines         one of the MCCs of the country;     -   2) The UE tries to get a list of local PLMNs having an ePDG         roaming agreement with its HPLMN by performing a DNS query to a         local DNS server with an FQDN including the UE's HPLMN         (hmnc<MNC>.hmcc<MCC>) and the local country MCC (mcc<MCC>) it         has determined in stepl (there may be several MCCs in a         country). The DNS server returns a list of PLMNs         (mnc<MNC>.mcc<MCC>) which have roaming agreements for untrusted         WLAN with the UE's HPLMN;     -   3) The UE attempts to establish an IPSec tunnel per TS 24.302         subclause 7 to an ePDG that is operated by one of these PLMN's.

TS 23.003 provides an informative annex D “Applicability and use of the “.3gppnetwork.org” domain name” that can be used to construct a FQDN. As an example, in that third alternative, the FQDN would have the form

“hmnc<MNC>.hmcc<MCC>.mcc<MCC>.lcepdg.pub.3gppnetwork.org”, where the service is local country ePDG (lcepdg), the MCC of the country the UE is located in is mcc, and the UE's HPLMN is hmcc plus hmnc.

The DNS is configured with a list of local PLMN in the country identified by “mcc” the UE's HPLMN has WLAN roaming agreements with. Until successful IPSec tunnel establishment with an ePDG, for each of the local PLMN in the list:

-   -   the UE tries to retrieve the identity of an ePDG of that PLMN as         if the UE was registered on that local PLMN (using the Operator         Identifier FQDN described in 23.402 § 4.5.4.2);     -   the UE attempts to establish an IPSec tunnel per TS 24.302         subclause 7.

As an implementation example for the third alternative, the UE fetches the NAPTR record associated with “hmnc<MNC>.hmcc<MCC>.mcc<MCC>.lcepdg.pub.3gppnetwork.org.” The DNS NAPTR information it gets is a set of NAPTR records:

-   -   with the same NAPTR preference and order (to ensure fairness         among the operators);     -   with the “flags” field set to “a” (as according to IETF RC 3403,         “The Application defines the flag ‘a’ to mean a terminal lookup         and that the output of the rewrite will be a domain name for         which an A record should be queried”). Indeed, the DNS resolver         in the UE will use the returned FQDN to get the IP addresses of         ePDGs;     -   not containing any regular expression (“regexp”) for         substitution (to avoid complex algorithm in the UE);     -   but containing an NAPTR “replacement” field an Operator         Identifier FQDN (as defined in 23.402 § 4.5.4.2) of a VPLMN that         supports ePDG roaming with the HPLMN.

The DNS resolver in the UE then needs to pick an Operator Identifier FQDN and issues a DNS lookup towards that new domain in order to find an ePDG of the corresponding local PLMN.

An example of information used for ePDG selection by a UE, in embodiments related to the third alternative, is illustrated in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, such information includes a list of local PLMNs having roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access to EPC (noted list of PLMNs having roaming agreement), obtained e.g. by DNS query to a DNS server.

For all alternatives, a fair usage of the PLMN (s) in the list can be achieved by the DNS providing the list of local PLMNs using NAPTR records having the same order and same preference (per RFC 34.03 definitions), and the DNS resolver in the UE randomly choosing between the PLMNs for which an IPSec tunnel establishment has not been successfully attempted. Another possibility is that the DNS provides a list of local PLMNs in a random or round robin order and that the UE always start with the first PLMN in the list.

Another need to fulfill is related with a P-CSCF (as defined in 3GPP 23.228) in a Home PLMN (HPLMN) that for IMS services needs to serve an UE located a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) of another country (this scenario is studied as part of S8 Home Routed studies in the FS_V8 SID documented in TR 23.749). In that case the P-CSCF in the HPLMN needs to determine whether session signaling initiated by the UE in the VPLMN targets an emergency number defined in that VPLMN (for example the emergency numbers related with child or women abuse may vary from country to country).

When the session signaling initiated by the UE in the VPLMN targets an emergency number defined in that VPLMN, the P-CSCF in HPLMN has to redirect the UE towards selecting a P-CSCF for emergency services in the VPLMN.

For the purpose of detecting whether session signaling initiated by the UE in the VPLMN targets an emergency number defined in that VPLMN, the P-CSCF could be locally configured with the list of emergency numbers associated with each country of a VPLMN with which it has roaming agreements.

This would be cumbersome to manage.

Another simpler solution would be where the P-CSCF takes the MCC of the VPLMN (where the UE is located) to build a specific FQDN associated with the emergency numbers in that country and issues a DNS record request to get the list of the emergency numbers in that country.

-   As another aspect of the invention, in some embodiments, the P-CSCF     tries to get a list of local emergency numbers (i.e. a list of     emergency numbers in the country the UE is located in) by performing     a DNS query on an input FQDN containing “mcc<MCC>” (of the PLMN     where the UE is camping) to a public NAPTR DNS server that returns a     list of such emergency numbers; The domain of the input FQDN does     not correspond to an individual operator as the corresponding DNS     record is likely not to be managed by an individual operator (could     be managed by GSMA like the NAPTR record of the public DNS server     that returns a list of FQDN that each contains a “mnc<MNC>.mcc<MCC>”     of a local PLMN). The P-CSCF is not assumed to retrieve this list     each time an UE registers or issues session related signaling as it     may cache the DNS record received as part of DNS look-up

Various aspects and/or embodiments of the invention include (though not being limited to) following aspects and/or embodiments.

Some aspects are related to a User Equipment UE.

Various embodiments may be provided, including (though not being limited to) following embodiments, which may be taken alone or in combination, according to various combinations.

In an embodiment said UE is configured to:

-   -   get ePDG selection information configured by the UE's HPLMN,         said ePDG selection information including a list of PLMNs with         an indication of whether the selection of an ePDG in a PLMN is         preferred or mandatory or non-preferred.

In an embodiment said UE is configured to:

-   -   perform selection of an ePDG operated by a PLMN of a country the         UE is located in, referred to as local PLMN, which has roaming         agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access to EPC,         based on said list of PLMNs configured in said ePDG selection         information, and on a list of MCCs of said country and/or a list         of local PLMNs.

In an embodiment said UE is configured to:

-   -   determine said list of MCCs,     -   attempt to establish an IPsec tunnel to an ePDG operated by a         PLMN configured in said ePDG selection information, if a MCC of         said PLMN is in said list of MCCs.

In an embodiment said UE is configured to:

-   -   get said list of local PLMNs,     -   attempt to establish an IPsec tunnel to an ePDG operated by a         PLMN of said list of local PLMNs, if said PLMN is configured in         said ePDG selection information.

In an embodiment said UE is configured to:

-   -   get said list of local PLMNs, via DNS query to a DNS server on         an input containing a MCC of the country the UE is located in.

In an embodiment, said UE is configured to:

-   -   get a list of PLMNs, referred to as local PLMNs, of a country         the UE is located in.

In an embodiment, said UE is configured to:

-   -   perform selection of an ePDG operated by a local PLMN having         roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access         to EPC, based on said list of local PLMNs, and on information,         referred to as local PLMN roaming agreement information,         indicating if a local PLMN has roaming agreement with the UE's         HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access to EPC.

In an embodiment, said UE is configured to:

-   -   get said list of local PLMNs, via DNS query to a DNS server on         an input containing a MCC of the country the UE is located in.

In an embodiment, said UE is configured to:

-   -   get said local PLMN roaming agreement information, via DNS query         to a DNS server targeting a FQDN including:         -   the MCC and MNC of said local PLMN, and         -   the MCC and MNC of the UE's HPLMN,

the output of said DNS query indicating a failure if said local PLMN has no roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access to EPC.

In an embodiment, said UE is configured to:

-   -   get a substitute FQDN from said DNS server if said local PLMN         has roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN         access to EPC, and issue a second DNS query with the substitute         FQDN, to further obtain a list of ePDGs operated by said local         PLMN, that can serve users of the UE's HPLMN.

In an embodiment, said UE is configured to:

-   -   get ePDG selection information configured by the UE's HPLMN,         including a list of PLMNs with an indication of whether the         selection of an ePDG in a PLMN is preferred or mandatory,     -   attempt to establish an IPsec tunnel to an ePDG operated by a         PLMN of said list of local PLMNs, if this PLMN is configured in         the ePDG selection information,     -   if there is no PLMN in said list of local PLMNs that is also         configured in said ePDG selection information, or if the UE did         not succeed in said attempt to establish said IPsec tunnel, get         said local PLMN roaming agreement information.

In an embodiment, said UE is configured to:

-   -   get a list of PLMNs, referred to as local PLMNs, of a country         the UE is located in, which have roaming agreement with the UE's         HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access to EPC.

In an embodiment, said UE is configured to:

-   -   perform selection of a ePDG operated by a local PLMN having         roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access         to EPC, based on said list.

In an embodiment, said UE is configured to:

-   -   get said list via DNS query to a DNS server.

In an embodiment, said UE is configured to:

-   -   perform said ePDG selection if said UE is required to select an         ePDG operated by a local PLMN in a country where the UE is         located.

Other aspects are related to DNS Server(s).

Various embodiments may be provided, including (though not being limited to) following embodiments, which may be taken alone or in combination, according to various combinations.

In an embodiment, a DNS Server is configured to:

-   -   receive a DNS query targeting a FQDN including a MCC of a         country,     -   provide in response a list of identities, MCC and MNC, of PLMNs         of said country.

In an embodiment, a DNS Server is configured to:

-   -   receive a DNS query targeting a FQDN including:         -   the MCC and MNC of a local PLMN in a UE's visited country,             and         -   the MCC and MNC of the UE's HPLMN,     -   provide in response a failure indication if said local PLMN has         no roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN         access to EPC.

In an embodiment, a DNS Server is configured to:

-   -   provide in response a substitute FQDN if said local PLMN has         roaming agreement with the UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access         to EPC, said substitute FQDN enabling said UE to get a list of         ePDGs of said local PLMN that can serve users of the UE's HPLMN.

In an embodiment, a DNS Server is configured to:

-   -   receive a DNS query targeting a FQDN including:         -   the MCC and MNC of a UE's HPLMN, and         -   a MCC of a country the UE is located in,     -   provide in response a list of identities, MCC and MNC, of the         PLMNs of said country, which have roaming agreement with the         UE's HPLMN for untrusted WLAN access to EPC.

Other aspects are related to a method for selection of an evolved packet data gateway in a country a User Equipment UE is located, comprising at least one step performed by at least one of a thus configured UE or DNS server.

Other aspects are related to a DNS Server.

Various embodiments are provided, including:

In an embodiment, said DNS Server is configured to:

-   -   receive a DNS query targeting a FQDN including a MCC of a         country,     -   provide in response a list of emergency numbers of said country.

Other aspects are related to a P-CSCF.

Various embodiments are provided, including:

In an embodiment, said P-CSCF is configured to:

-   -   retrieve from a DNS server, based on the MCC of the VPLMN         serving an UE, the list of emergency numbers defined in the         country corresponding to that MCC

Other aspects are related to method for the determination of the local emergency numbers in a country a User Equipment UE is located, comprising at least one step performed by at least one of a thus configured P-CSCF or DNS server.

A person of skill in the art would readily recognize that steps of various above-described methods can be performed by programmed computers. Herein, some embodiments are also intended to cover program storage devices, e.g., digital data storage media, which are machine or computer readable and encode machine-executable or computer-executable programs of instructions, wherein said instructions perform some or all of the steps of said above-described methods. The program storage devices may be, e.g., digital memories, magnetic storage media such as a magnetic disks and magnetic tapes, hard drives, or optically readable digital data storage media. The embodiments are also intended to cover computers programmed to perform said steps of the above-described methods. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A user equipment comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: perform a domain name system query using an input fully qualified domain name, said input fully qualified domain name comprising a mobile country code of a visited country in which the user equipment is located; and receive, in response to said domain name system query, a list of output fully qualified domain names that each contains an identity, mobile country code, and mobile network code, of a public land mobile network of said visited country.
 2. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein said input fully qualified domain name has the form “mcc<MCC>local-plmn.pub.3gppnetwork.org”.
 3. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein said output fully qualified domain name has the form “mnc<MNC>.mcc<MCC>.local-plmn.pub.3gppnetwork.org”.
 4. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein a mobile country code in said output fully qualified domain name is, in an instance in which multiple mobile country codes correspond to the visited country, different from the mobile country code in the input fully qualified domain name.
 5. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: in an instance in which said user equipment is required to select an evolved packet data gateway in the country in which said user equipment is located, select an evolved packet data gateway that is operated by one of said public land mobile networks.
 6. The user equipment of claim 5, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: determine said evolved packet data gateway is being operated by said one of said public land mobile networks.
 7. The user equipment of claim 6, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: cause establishment of an internet protocol security tunnel between said user equipment and the selected evolved packet data gateway that is operated by said one of said public land mobile networks.
 8. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein said list is a second list, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to at least to: compare said second list and a first list of public land mobile networks having roaming agreements with a home public land mobile network of said user equipment for untrusted wireless local area network access; and in an instance in which one of said public land mobile networks is on both said first list and said second list, select said one of said public land mobile networks.
 9. The user equipment of claim 8, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: identify an evolved packet data gateway to which to establish an internet protocol security tunnel between the user equipment and the evolved packet data gateway, wherein the evolved packet data gateway is operated by said one of said public land mobile networks.
 10. A method of operating a user equipment, the method comprising: performing a domain name system query using an input fully qualified domain name, said input fully qualified domain name comprising a mobile country code of a visited country in which the user equipment is located; and receiving, in response to said domain name system query, a list of output fully qualified domain names that each contains an identity, a mobile country code, and a mobile network code of a public land mobile network of said visited country.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said input fully qualified domain name has the form “mcc<MCC>local-plmn.pub.3gppnetwork.org”.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein said output fully qualified domain name has the form “mnc<MNC>.mcc<MCC>.local-plmn.pub.3gppnetwork.org”.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein a mobile country code in said output fully qualified domain name is, in an instance in which multiple mobile country codes correspond to the visited country, different from the mobile country code in the input fully qualified domain name.
 14. The method of claim 10, further comprising: in an instance in which said user equipment is required to select an evolved packet data gateway in the country in which said user equipment is located, selecting an evolved packet data gateway that is operated by one of said public land mobile networks.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: determining said evolved packet data gateway is being operated by said one of said public land mobile networks.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: causing establishment of an internet protocol security tunnel between said user equipment and the selected evolved packet data gateway that is operated by said one of said public land mobile networks.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein said list is a second list, the method further comprising: comparing said second list to a first list of public land mobile networks having roaming agreements with a home public land mobile network of said user equipment for untrusted wireless local area network access; and in an instance in which one of said public land mobile networks is on both said first list and said second list, selecting said one of said public land mobile networks.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: identifying an evolved packet data gateway to which to establish an internet protocol security tunnel between the user equipment and the evolved packet data gateway, wherein the evolved packet data gateway is operated by said one of said public land mobile networks.
 19. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, said instructions configured, upon execution, to cause a user equipment to at least: perform a domain name system query using an input fully qualified domain name, said input fully qualified domain name comprising a mobile country code of a visited country in which said user equipment is located; and receive, in response to said domain name system query, a list of output fully qualified domain names that each contains an identity, a mobile country code, and a mobile network code of a public land mobile network of said visited country. 